Added 9 October 2026
crumb
/kɹʌm/ noun
In Latin: frustum, mīca Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about crumb at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
A very small quantity of something.
he gave only a crumb of information about his plans
-
A person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible.
only a rotter would do that
- Small piece of e.g. bread or cake.
verb
Origin
From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”). The b is unetymological, as in limb, and first appeared in the mid-15th century, influenced by crumble and words such as dumb, numb, and thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish in kråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin grūmus (“a little heap”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)